Monday, April 28, 2008

TOOLS OF THE TRADE .....

Bag of hay, bag of litter (Crown Animal Bedding for these bunns), containers of pellets (mostly OxBow Bunny Basics/T but a dab of Purina Show Formula - for treats), oats, bucket and scoop for dirty litter, and a big ol' shop-vac lurking in the background. Add a box of moist wipes for condo floors and fresh water and we are equipped for cleaning and refreshing. It's a dang wonder we don't have a cute little wagon to haul it around in!What have I missed? What else do you use? Any different good ideas out there?

11 comments:

We get a 25 lb box of (Oxbow) hay from the local feed & grain store, and I supplement that with little bags of Peter's meadow grass and brome hay from the big-box pet store. There's a bag of Brown's yummy pellet/dried fruit/veggie junk food for treats and bribes. I tried using litter--the fluffy paper kind, but they ate it, which didn't seem good. So now I line a cat litter box with newspaper and put hay in it. That's their hay box and litter box, since they poop as they eat anyway. At the end of the day I just pop out the newspaper and throw the mess away. Their big double cages have newspaper and towels in them (the only downside is that Pink's white feet are always dirty looking from the newsprint). I pay more than I should for chew toys though--apple and peach sticks and pinecones. We can't get the fruit wood here, and our pinecones have sharp thorny points on them.

I use Yesterday's News litter, which is quite nice and available at my local pet stores. I order timothy hay from Oxbow.

There's a product called "pooch pads" which are puppy training pads and excellent for putting under the rug where the litter box sits, for times when someone's big bunny butt doesn't get all the way inside the box. That way accidents don't go through the rug and stain the hardwoods.

A shop vac is good, but for quick daily fur cleanups I use packing tape. It's good for getting fur off the rugs. Sometimes I'll miss a spot for awhile and fur will accumulate under a desk or something until I have enough to make a whole 'nother rabbit! I wish I knew how one rabbit can produce so much fur!

I use Carefresh litter from the pet store but I've been thinking of changing to something else because it's a bit expensive and now that we have two rabbits I go through it very quickly! I'll be interested to see what everyone else uses.

I give them both Oxbow Bunny Basic T and Oxbow Timothy Hay. The only place I can get them around here is our vet so I make a special trip once a month to stock up.

For treats they get dried banana chips and Craisins (dried cranberries) which they love! I order toys from busybunny.com. Their favorites are anything that is willow, like the willow balls or baskets, that they can toss around and also chew and destroy.

The staple of my cleaning regime is vinegar. There is nothing better to clean up bunny urine. It fizzes up and eats the urine right away. Works great on carpet too and that way you don't have any toxic chemicals in the carpet that might harm the bunns.

We are using Oxbow's Eco straw for boxes and then putting it into the garden. I pop the poops that gather on the towel that their dish is on into the garden as well. I put thick vinyl and a towel under the litter box and eating area (T and S are free roaming). A spray bottle of vinegar works like nothing else to neutralize urine, plus it fizzes, that lets you know something is really happening. You can see Tyler and Sydney at my blog today!

I buy the hay for the bunnies from a horse farm by the bale...it is nice, fresh and safe, as it is the same they give to their horses. The litter trays are lined with newspapers, then I put on it approx.1' of megazorb, top up with hay and readigrass and that's it. For cleaning, vinegar with some hot water and a good scrub, then wash with fresh water. Voila'...done!

I love the "mountain cat" pressed wood pellets, they absorb like crazy, there's little scent, and they aren't dusty, they compost really well too... plus Fynn Pants has this thing where he really likes to eat yesterday's news.... not cool.We're in a small town, so when we have the storage space, we buy a large bale of timothy from a farmer, I can get the apple wood from a neigbour... I've got a large indoor/outdoor mat under the cage with dollarama peel and stick tiles stuck to it, so it's easy to wipe down/ sweep clean... I found they were a little too slippery, so now there's an area rug on top for traction, but I'm thinking of just buying those grippy sticker things that you sometimes see in people's bathtubs to put on it instead.I keep a lint brush beside the cage for me,and the swiffer is a very important tool in our house!Thankfully, the room mates are beginning to accept the "rabbit hair as a condiment" theory.

I highly recommend Woody Pet litter. It's all sorts of awesome. We use Hagen pellets since it's readily available and the recommended daily allowances are just right for Marbles' needs. We clean with water and a smidge of white vinegar. :)